OT. Air-conditioners for a bedroom???

[andy mac]

as is typical, i have no idea so thought i'd start here!

my dear father-in-law just had a mild stroke and i've been given the job to find an air-conditioner asap for his bedroom in portland, oregon. it's been up around 100 lately.

when i said i have no idea i really mean it. my guess is there are units that sit in the window and floor units. are these my only options? what else? which are best?

any suggestions, advice etc very much appreciated - as always!

:beer:

andy

[Karin Kirk]

I'd suggest a window-mounted unit, they are cheap and easy to find. Before you shop you'll want to estimate the size of the room, so you can buy one that is about the right capacity. Might be nice to see if you can find a quiet one too, some of those things really roar.

I have found super helpful product reviews at target.com for all kinds of things. Might check there to see if anything stands out as either awesome or terrible.

[Louis]

Window unit is probably best. Seems to me the two toughest issues will be 1) the physical installation of the thing, and 2) do you have the right gauge electrical wiring available at that location, and if not, do you have to mess with the main junction box?

[Lifelover]

AC units literally remove the heat from the air. Thus, they exhaust very hot air. That is why you standard home unit sits outside and the window unit sits half outside.

There are portable floor units on the market now but they require a hose that exhaust outside.

Window units have gotten cheap and fairly quiet. For a little more money ($20-$30) you can get one with electronic controls (vs. knobs), includes a remote control and maybe even one that cuts the fan off when the condensing (real AC part) doesn't run.

Unless the room has a dedicated plug for the AC you need to consider voltage and power.

I will assume you don't have a dedicated 240 Volt plug. Your standard plugs in most homes are connected to a 15 AMP circuit at the electrical box. Each circuit could have a handful of wall receptacles and maybe some over head lights on it. An AC unit will be pretty big draw and can trip the breaker if there is too much on it.

If you only want to cool one room and it's in the 12 X 14 range, than a 5000-6000 BTU unit should be fine. These will have about a 5 amp draw and most likely will not a be problem on a circuit unless you happen to have a fridge or some other appliance on it.


Google Window AC unit (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=window+ac+unit+&btnG=Search) and read a few of the links if you need more info.

Sorry to hear about you dad and good luck.

[Erik.Lazdins]

AC units literally remove the heat from the air. Thus, they exhaust very hot air. That is why you standard home unit sits outside and the window unit sits half outside.

There are portable floor units on the market now but they require a hose that exhaust outside.

Window units have gotten cheap and fairly quiet. For a little more money ($20-$30) you can get one with electronic controls (vs. knobs), includes a remote control and maybe even one that cuts the fan off when the condensing (real AC part) doesn't run.

Unless the room has a dedicated plug for the AC you need to consider voltage and power.

I will assume you don't have a dedicated 240 Volt plug. Your standard plugs in most homes are connected to a 15 AMP circuit at the electrical box. Each circuit could have a handful of wall receptacles and maybe some over head lights on it. An AC unit will be pretty big draw and can trip the breaker if there is too much on it.

If you only want to cool one room and it's in the 12 X 14 range, than a 5000-6000 BTU unit should be fine. These will have about a 5 amp draw and most likely will not a be problem on a circuit unless you happen to have a fridge or some other appliance on it.


Google Window AC unit (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=window+ac+unit+&btnG=Search) and read a few of the links if you need more info.

Sorry to hear about you dad and good luck.


I was reading through this post ready to offer my experience and this gem was here rendering my opinion not needed.

This is one of the best "side effects" of the forum - what a great response!

All my best to you Andy Mac as you take care of your family!

[Louis]

AC units literally remove the heat from the air.

And, just as important, they remove water. Hence the name "conditioner" not just "cooler."

[deechee]

Personally I've tried multiple air conditioners in the bedroom over the years and usually take them out. I can't sleep through the noise and prefer a breeze.

We have A/Cs in other rooms to cool the surrounding air. Unless you get a floor standing model (which are more expensive and as others have stated, not as efficient since the heat has nowhere to go) its hard to open your window when its not as hot.

I don't know how old your father in law is but my parents are elderly and complain about the heat but hate A/C even more. I just came back from spending a month in Germany and most people there don't use A/C. After a while I got used to it and it wasn't too hard to adjust to. A fan with a remote control is pretty good too? Circulate air from the cooler rooms...

For more details on the BTU numbers, here's a decent article:
http://www.consumersearch.com/www/house_and_home/air-conditioner-reviews/review.html

good luck.
I know its a whole lot harder finding a cheap A/C after a heat wave has hit.

[rwsaunders]

Try bringing up the subject of a new bike.....that could cool things off in the bedroom a bit. :cool:

[RPS]

as is typical, i have no idea so thought i'd start here!

my dear father-in-law just had a mild stroke and i've been given the job to find an air-conditioner asap for his bedroom in portland, oregon. it's been up around 100 lately.
andySorry to hear about your father-in-law. Hope he recovers quickly.

Lifelover's advice is excellent.

I’d also like to add as Louis mentioned that A/C units remove moisture which has to be gotten rid of. Newer window units use the condense moisture from the evaporator to help cool the condenser, thereby making them more efficient (use less power). On my small 5000 BTU/hr GE unit that I installed in my van (BTW it’s rated at just above 6 AMPS), the condensate is fully evaporated when the outside air is not excessively humid – basically there is no liquid coming out of the A/C – it all leaves with the hot air.

However, when the outside air is humid (like when it’s been raining) the amount of condensate does not fully evaporate and overflows by gravity to the outside (by design, it’s the way it’s meant to work). You need to make sure the unit sits in an area where the condensate can drip down unless you install an overflow tube to divert it elsewhere.

I mention this because on some layouts the moisture can make outside walks slippery if they stay wet much of the time (I installed quite a few in South Florida in a previous life). Also, make sure the unit is tilted back a little if required by the instructions so that the condensate doesn’t run back into the bedroom.

Portable units are more expensive but easier to install. They can be less efficient because they use the inside air-conditioned air to cool the condenser (hence doing some of the work twice). Some of the more expensive units have two hoses so they can bring outside air to the condenser and then expel it through the second hose. And as with window units, they have to get rid of the moisture. Some or all (depending on humidity) is evaporated but some ends up in a tank that has to be emptied or pumped outside.

I’d stick with a window unit if you have the place to install it, and would first check the available electrical power. I think you can buy units at least 8000 BTU/hr in size that run on 115 Volts, but they will likely pull at least 10 amps. If you don’t have electrical tools but want to check if you have that much power available you can try plugging a high-power hair dryer into the planned outlet to see if it will trip it. A 1500 watt hair dryer should pull as much power as a small A/C.

[Louis]

you can try plugging a high-power hair dryer into the planned outlet to see if it will trip it.

Um, RPS, he's trying to cool his father-in-law... :)